lance

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   open by piercing with a lancet

   lance a boil

2. 2
   verb

   move quickly, as if by cutting one's way

   Planes lanced towards the shore

3. 3
   noun

   A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen.

   Thy brother’s blood the thirsty earth hath drunk, Broach’d with the steely point of Clifford’s lance[…]

4. 4
   noun

   A wooden spear, sometimes hollow, used in jousting or tilting, designed to shatter on impact with the opposing knight’s armour.

   What will you do, good greybeard? Break a lance, And run a-tilt at Death within a chair?

5. 5
   verb

   To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.

   Seiz'd the due Victim, and with Fury lanch'd Her Back

6. 6
   verb

   To open with a lancet; to prick or cut open with a sharp instrument; to pierce.

   to lance a vein or an abscess

7. 7
   verb

   to steal or swipe

   He lanced my drink and spiked it!

8. 8
   noun

   a surgical knife with a pointed double-edged blade

Etymology

The surname is derived from a medieval given name Lanzo, short form of names beginning with the Germanic element *land; see land. Doublet of Lanzo.